Oblivion Chronicles
by Aerich
Summary: When a High Priestess' brother gets lost and eventually becomes an evil all in himself. Now she must team up with a Whitesmith and his gang to try and prevent it. Stay tuned for Chapter 3.
1. The Beginning of the End

Author's Note: This story was made after I had quit playing Ragnarok Online, on both private and public servers so the names of monsters may be spelt wrong, if so, tell me and I shall correct them. Also, this story will remain a work in progress for a very long time. I will update every time a new chapter is finished, biweekly is when this might happen. Also, read and review it, give me suggestions on what you think would be something to add to this story.

On an additional note, I'll probably need to get a few more characters in here on both the good and evil sides, so when I get the time, I'll post a character sheet thing in my profile and have everyone e-mail it to me.

**Oblivion Chronicles**

_Chapter One: The Beginning of the End_

In the gloomy, flickering torchlight a young high priestess wanders throughout the lower levels of the Pyramids. She was officially lost in the giant maze of stinky, slimy corridors in search of her sibling that she had been helping get stronger so that one day he could become a Lord Knight. With her length of bone with a magical creature's skull attached to the end of it gripped tightly in her right hand, she cautiously moved down the claustrophobic corridors, whose ceiling disappeared in a canvas of black nothingness. As she rounded a corner, a constantly shuffling of feet on the block flooring, warned her of oncoming hordes of mummies, and of her inevitable doom. Raising up her staff, she prepared for what was to come, her left hand's palm was placed out towards the corner with a white cross emblazed in the palm.

What came around the corner was something she hadn't expected, a taller male with white hair placed under the protection of what appeared to be a jester's hat. From her first judgment of the male, he was anything but funny. He had a scowl of an expression and he carried a large axe in his right hand with blood dripping from it's blade that never seemed to stop raining the ground with crimson drops. When he had turned to her, it was as though his blue eyes were peering right into her soul, draining her of energy and soul. He hadn't muttered a word, but she was already afraid of the male until his expression changed to a soothing toothy grin, giving Alicia a feeling of security around him.

"Miss Priest, may I ask for a simple heal? I'll pay you if it is required." He said in a mellow tone of voice, as he began to reach into the two-wheeled dull gray cart behind him rummaging around for his Zeny.

She swallowed back the lump in her throat, lowering her hands to their respected sides of her red gown. "My name is Alicia, sir. And I will gladly heal your wounds, no payment is required though." She replied with a sheepish smile on her face, _when did priests start charging people for heals?_ She raised both of her hands up to his chest, her palms thrusted outwards at him. She let out a quiet sigh as blue beams of light encircled him, the magic healing any and all wounds he may have procured.

Feeling refreshed the male bowed his head towards her, "Thank you miss, that was very generous of you. May I ask why you are traveling alone; I thought priests traveled within a group of people?" He responded, with a tone of confusion in his mellow voice. It didn't appear that he was trying to be rude towards her, but more of quizzical at the most.

"I was traveling with my brother when we go separated..." She told him, before tears started to well up in her eyes at the thought of what these creatures could do to her brother. She was about ready to break down completely if he hadn't placed his left hand on her shoulder, that had calmed her more then anything right now.

"Ma'am, was he a swordsman?" The male asked sympathetically, his voice giving signs of sadness for her loss. Seeing as that was among the few people he had seen down here, and he had appeared to be the weakest.

Her head shot straight up and looked the male in his alluring blue eyes, nodding her head frantically. He looked towards the nothingness above in thought, allowing her to think that he **_had_** seen her sibling. "Please kind sir, where did you see him last?" She was about ready to start crying of joy, when he interrupted her with his statement.

"He was heading down to the next level, I saw him on the stairs up here. I'm sorry, but even I couldn't handle that area. Though what was odd, besides the fact that he was a swordsman, and down here alone, was that his eyes were glazed over as if in a trance." He removed his hand from her shoulder, and began to massage his chin in thought, "I tried to ask him if he was lost, but he kept marching on, I'm sorry, but I didn't make any moves to stop him."

"What do you mean by _couldn't handle that area_ anyways?" She asked him, a tone of anger beginning to ember in her voice. It was sharp enough to penetrate one of these walls of rocks. This in turn made him back away from her as a subconscious precaution.

"I mean, the mummies and Drainilairs were far too organized for even me to get through them while defending myself, that's how I got this..." He pronounced, as he turned around showing her the gash in the back of his white vest that was stained red, allowing her to see the now formed scar on his muscular back. She gasped at the sight, and tried to apologize before he held up his hand to quiet her down. "It's alright, but if you can give support to me, I should be able to get down there, and I'll gladly help you..." He was cut off as a minion of the lord mummy Osiris jumped on to his back, his grip on his axe loosened allowing the large metallic object to go by the ways of gravity, and down towards the ground.

They were both cut off guard from the sudden attack by the bandaged up creature, but when she raised her hand up to cast her holy light, he had already begun engaging the undead monster by grappling on to the base of it's rag surrounded skull, and dragging it over his shoulder. His leather gauntlet hands with pieces of tempered steel on the back of them began to slam into the creatures head, immobilizing it momentarily. Grabbing a hold of it's skull with his left hand, he reached out with his right hand for his axe, holding it's head at an awkward angle that prevented it from attacking him in return.

Alicia stared in disbelief that this male was fighting with his bare hands, and winning against a creature that she was having trouble fighting with her brother, though neither of them were based around mass damage. As he reached out for the axe, she used her sandal covered foot to push it towards him, allowing him to grasp it in his hand. Raising the mighty weapon above his head, he started his slash attack down towards the neck of the creature, an instant kill if it wasn't for the fact that it had begun to struggle under his grasp which made him slam it into its upper back. Letting out a gurgling scream of agony, Alicia covered her ears with her hands, as he let another attack fall on its neck, decapitating its head from the grip of its body.

"There, done." He said as he stood up and began to dust off his leather clad fingers, looking towards her with his scowl again. "So, shall we go look for your brother?" He inquired as she replied with a nod of her head, turning around he grasped the cart with his hand and began to drag it behind him towards where the stairway downwards was. Hacking the bats in half, with a single swoop of his weapon, and killing off a mummy in a few swoops of the blade. It appeared that every few steps they seem to take there was a monster waiting for them _everywhere_. And she could see that the Whitesmith was getting drained from the constant smashing and bashing of the undead.

Through his heavy panting, he had reached into his cart and pulled out a flask of clear liquid and began to pour it over the top of his skull. Feeling refreshed, he grabbed a few more flasks and placed them inside the large leather pouch on the back of his belt. He looked over towards her, and crouched down placing his hand on the side of his cart, "Watch out." Warning her to step back, he teleported his cart back to his residence in the town of Comodo. She just looked at the now vanished cart full of goods, and just raised her right eyebrow.

"Can we keep looking now?" A looked of despair in her eyes, all she had wanted right now was to be able to hug her brother, Darius. When she looked down at him, he was staring at the ground probably thinking deeply. "Sir, I don't believe you've told me your name." She proclaimed, for the fact that she wouldn't have to call him "sir" anymore. When she had finished speaking her words, he had stood up and looked down upon her.

"Oh, well, Aerich Goehring at your services." He announced, with a large bow of his waist towards her, before standing back up to his full height, well above her own. "Alicia, like I had said earlier, I will stay here and help you till he's found. I'm not a very busy man anymore, so it won't be an inconvenience towards me, and I hope not to you either."

"Thank you Aerich, you don't know how much better that makes me feel, having a companion here to help me I mean." She muttered as a light shade of crimson began to form on the upper parts of her cheeks. She was very much thankful for the flickering torchlight, and even happier to fall behind him when they started towards the stone staircase in the middle of the room, which were thirty or so feet away with a horde of mummies in the way.

As they approached the undead beings, Aerich pulled out a few coins, otherwise known as Zeny, from his pouch and tossed them up in the air. Swinging his axe downward through the coins, it unleashed a massive power on the horde, and an even larger amount of power when his axe hit the solid stone bricks of the ground, a blast radiating from the bloody blade of his axe and engulfing the hordes. The mummies were quickly dispatched by the flames, falling down on to the ground, screaming in pain as their undead lives ended so abruptly. Melted into the ground were the coins, preserved perfectly in the rock like they were there since this place was built.

As they neared the staircase, Aerich took a deep breath and began to descend the staircase to a place where he knew they'd be outnumbered and outgunned, figuratively speaking. What skills he had, Alicia didn't know, but if they were as powerful as the last one she didn't think there would be a problem. Though she was mistaken as soon as she saw the hordes of Osiris' minions formed up into ranks at the bottom of the stairs as though they were soldiers in the legion, just waiting for another adventurer to come.

"Are you ready to do this Alicia?" Aerich asked over his shoulder as he placed both of his hands on the handle of his large weapon, gripping it tightly with his leather clad hands. She had raised both of her hands up again, her palms towards his backside as she sighed once more, unleashing the powers of the savior upon him. Once the spells had ceased lighting up the staircase, he had felt a hundred and fifty pounds lighter, but at the same time a lot stronger.

Briskly without a muttering of words, he charged towards the horde of creatures, jumping high into the air before coming back down upon the mummies, a large explosion ignited in the ground that surround him. The ones that were hit by the shockwave of energy were dispersed over the edge of the walkway into the void of black space that sank down into the floor, never to be heard from again. When he stood from his place, all that was around him was black burn marks embedded into the flooring, and about another two hundred zombies.

As he looked around himself, he saw a few of the creatures drop with the explosion of a large white cross as she walked towards him. A look of anger in her eyes as she continued to make the undead minions explode from the powers of holy magic. He then turned back towards the advancing beings and began to swing his mighty axe at them; the ones that weren't knocked off were quickly dispersed in the fashion of disembowelment from their limbs and of their heads. One-by-one they fell to the ground, the only sound heard was agonistic screams, the breaking of bones, and the sloshing of blood in the air.

Alicia saw that this was what he has trained for, and that his endurance wasn't wearing down as quickly as earlier because he had the benefits of their lord. He continued on with sheer determination in helping her find her lost sibling, since he knew what it was like to lose family, but she didn't need to know that he had lost a loved one as well. As they slowly began to fade, he hooked the leather thong that came off of the handle of his axe to a stub on his belt and turned to her, sweating profusely as he gasped for air heavily with both hands now placed on his knees.

"Well, Alicia, I think that was the majority of them. Shall we continue?" He asked as he pulled his weapon off of his belt and a flask from his leather pouch, drinking only half of it offering the rest towards her which she had politely decline. Shrugging, he placed the stopper back into it and returned it to the confines of leather box that it had come from.­­

Slowly growing in magnitude the moans of more undead creatures were making themselves heard to the adventurers. Aerich looked over his shoulder towards Alicia, then back into the darkness in front of them, were the sparse flickers of torchlight showed them an even larger horde of creatures coming. "Uh... Alicia, we've got more coming along. Are you ready for them?" He asked over his shoulder as he turned his head to the left to see her reply.

She took a deep breath and nodded; once again she called fourth the lord's blessings and made him stronger once more for a limited amount of time. "Let's go." Was all she said as they began to move forward, Aerich started to charge the creatures with money in hand so that he could do another explosive attack on the beings. As he neared the creatures, he threw the coins up, swinging his axe sideways to release the energy of it towards the creatures instead of down at the ground.

When the oridecon enforced blade made contact with the gold coins, a loud, thunderous sound was reverberating off the walls out of their eyesight as the blast knocked the creatures back while setting them aflame. Lowering his axe, Aerich watched as they fell to the ground rolling around to disperse the magical flames, but that had done nothing to stop it, only spread it better. As the two walked over the char-ridden walkway, they had to cover their mouths with their free hand to hopefully eviscerate the smell before it entered their nostrils, and well, it didn't work.

"I think we need to find a different way to kill these things." Was muffled through Alicia's hand as they crept on into the darkness, moving by a lone flickering torch as they went. All that Aerich did was shrug his shoulders in silence, not removing the mask of fingers from his face. Every time they passed a flickering light its vibrant colors would ricochet from the blade of Aerich's axe and into the darkness away from anyone's casual glances.

Since they've been down here, Alicia hasn't seen anyone from the King's Defense Regiment, which is just Paladins and Lord Knights that have busted their asses to be the best that Rune-Midgard has to offer. She figured that they would be down here investigating some disturbance that an adventurer reported to a guard. These were the people that you avoided, for every Lord Knight there was three Paladins to a group, since Lord Knights seem to be more then enough by themselves, they didn't need another in the group. Wherever there was a disturbance, count on that two or three of these groups securing the area, and if you found a way by them then you'd have to deal with the fact that there is probably ten of these groups inside of said area. Prontera Square, along with all of the people that helped them, a few years after the mass genocide of people had begun.

Though they've fought numerous battles that the public didn't even know of, constantly saving the lives of the people under King Tristan's rule. They have been working for the last ten years to regain their honor that was once lost, and many have died trying to do so. Alicia had met a few of the troops of this group and held them in the highest regards, and she has had the opportunity to work with these men and women, helping them out when Payon had a large fire which burned down their temple. She enjoyed their company, and wished very much that a group of these soldiers were down here, they could use their help. Though she didn't know if Aerich knew who they were, though from her perspective, he didn't seem like the kind of guy who had any real cares in the world, and was pretty much laid back about what he did. That was something that she admired about most of the smiths, they were the most laid back group of people, while her own class of people were always running around helping people, these people were setting up shops for their goods and earning money. And their priorities were extremely different from those of everyone else; they were the group of people that didn't waste any time whatsoever when it came to finding items to sell for a profit while the rest of the people of Rune-Midgard were very leisurely.

As the two moved on, a large cavernous door with markings loomed out from the darkness the surrounded the party of searchers. Aerich gently rested his left hand on the wall, running his bare fingertips over it as he inspected the doors hieroglyphics, trying to decipher their meaning. Stepping back, he looked over the door and the ground surrounding it, as he crouched down on the tips of his feet, he inspected a drag line on the floor; it looked as though it was done by a tip of a sword, though he was pretty much uncertain about it. Standing back up, he turned towards her and a look of worry on his face.

"Alicia, I'm sorry. Your brother is probably dead, because of what lies in the room behind this door will kill even me." Aerich told her as he peered back over towards the door, scanning it once more. "Osiris is down there, and I've lost friends and guild mates to that undead bastard, and he didn't even kill him, the Isis that guards him did all the work. They were able to handle them, until he summoned more and more till they were outnumbered and easily overcome." He sighed heavily as he remembered all of his friend's faces, knowing that he would get revenge for all their deaths, even if it took his own life to do so.

As she listened to him speak, she felt her knees begin to wobble and weaken almost instantaneously. As she was about to fall to the ground, the only thing that had hit it was his axe as he scooped her up in his arms, holding her up on her legs as she wailed into his chest. She balled up a fist and began to pound it on his vest covered shoulder, saying indescribable words in a low tone as the tears kept rolling down her cheeks. All Aerich could do was keep his arm around her, hoping that would be enough to calm her down.

As her crying began to cease, he kept his arm around her shoulders until it stopped completely. When she removed her tear soaked face from his shoulders, he smiled down at her in hopes of cheering her up. When he saw the tears building back up in his eyes he quickly frowned, letting her begin her cry of agony at the thought of her brother being gone forever. They stood there for what seemed like eternity, and nothing had dared to attack them for her would kill it and revive it again to kill it once more. She was in enough agony, there was no need to make it worse, though he still kept his eye peeled for anyone coming at them from the only way into this area and that's the way they walked in.

When he had seen a group of four walking through a torch a few hundred feet away, he picked up his axe and began to move back into the darkness, making soothing noises to her to stop her whimpers of loss, or at least quiet her down. Behind the ramp of the doorway that lead downwards, he placed her down in a sitting position, motioning that she be quiet with a finger over his lips. She saw it and nodded as he gripped his axe in his hand and crouched down to the ground to remain concealed in the shadows. Slowly he proceeded towards the group of four clad in armor, from a distance they looked like adventurers and he didn't understand why anyone would venture into here.

As he neared the four, they were standing in a torch lit area conversing on a subject that was out of earshot of him. It appeared that there were three Paladins and a Lord Knight, and the knight seemed to be giving orders to the group. Every now and then the three Paladins would nod their heads in unison as if agreeing to something. Puzzled, Aerich stayed put and kept a close eye on them as the moved out of the torchlight and into the darkness once more. Thinking twice about the group, he turned towards the priestess in hiding, but something caught his eye, it was a glowing blue insignia on their chest. The insignia was of an eagle with its wings spread out and around a sword and shield, Aerich had seen that insignia once, but he couldn't remember where though. Putting the thought into the back of his head, he stood up to his full height and proceeded to run towards Alicia, and not once did he turn to look at the group of soldiers. As he neared her location, he hung the axe from his belt once more and pulled out a glittery butterfly wing from the pouch on his right side.

Skidding around the corner, he jumped on to Alicia and crushed the wing in his grasp warping the both of them out in a blue shaft of light. They both landed in the town square of Prontera, and in a very compromising position. Looking up at all the passing Merchants, Blacksmiths and the occasional Whitesmith, he realized what this looked like. Her dress was hiked up around her waist and exposing her lower half greatly, but his chest and one of his legs was hiding her crotch from their view. Not only did his face redden, but he noticed that she was a very dark shade of crimson.

Apologizing to her, he stood up and helped her up. "I'm sorry, I saw four soldiers down there and they had a familiar insignia, but I can't remember where I've seen it..." He felt ashamed for his lack of memory when it was needed the most, but she only smiled and nodded, looking as though she was trying to figure out the right words to explain the situation to him, since her brow was scrunched up in though, her brown hair was spread out all of her shoulders and she didn't do anything to try and adjust it.

"Was this insignia that you saw glowing blue?" She asked him with a raised eyebrow, wrapping a piece of her hair around her index finger on her right hand; her left hand was rubbing the cross around her neck. When he nodded, she closed her eyes heavily, drooping her head as she sighed heavily. "Those are the KDR, or King's Defense Regiment, their emblem is an eagle wrapping its wings protectively around a sword and shield. The sword is to represent the Lord Knight's power to the group, and how they are able to take on anything with their help of their Paladins, hence the shield. They are the ones that will defend the group with their lives, I have heard many die trying to keep the Lord Knight alive, since their training is very hard to accomplish, and Lord Knights in themselves are hard to come by. Almost all of the known Lord Knights are in the KDR, and they are still out recruiting Lord Knights with positions that will give them enough money to support their family, parents, and friends for the rest of their lives. That is how prized these people are. Paladins on the other hand aren't so hard to train, they are easy to find a person with the right characteristics, such as; determination, protective, can take orders, is responsible, and so on. They are basically trained to use their thick armor and large shield to protect themselves and the other three they are with. I've yet to see anyone breach through a Paladin's handcrafted shield." She took a deep breath after explaining as easily as possible to him, basically telling what they were and what they did for each other. "Oh, I almost forgot, the KDR usually travels in groups of four because it is a sacred number to the king, representing his care and blessings to the lord, the land, the water, and the sun." As she said this she held up her left hand, raising a finger every time she named one of them off till her four fingers were up.

Aerich just nodded as he processed all the information, as his right hand went to his chin to begin rubbing it, he asked, "I've heard of them, but why exactly is everything I've heard of them negative?" She rolled her eyes, and shook her head. Taking his arm in her own arm, she began to drag him towards the bar in the southwestern corner of Prontera. "I guess you don't live around these parts?" She asked him, he shook his head in reply. Nodding, Alicia smiled and looked back up to the taller person, "Then I shall explain it over a nice drink, since I now know they are down there and they will find my brother. Though once I'm done, I have to leave and report to the Head Minister in the Church, and I must speak with King Tristan."

"Fair enough, I'll buy the drinks for us." He spoke down to her as the clouds above their heads began to darken into a very steel gray color. As they continued on towards the bar, a few drops of rain began to come down upon them, only when they neared the building it started to pour. Which in turn gave them enough motivation to run for the building, Aerich making it there first, he gladly held the door open for her. Once inside, he followed her in and they both took a seat by a large panoramic window, giving them a great view of the rain falling down to the city, a few flashes of lightning in the horizon over the castle. Upon ordering their drinks, Alicia began to explain the history of the King's Defense Regiment.


	2. A Cry Out for Help

A/N: Here is the second installment of the Oblivion Chronicles. Here is fair warning, there is a lot of dialogue in this chapter. Sorry!

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction, romance, and adventure. All characters that take place in this story either belong to myself, or their respected owners, in which I have consent to use them. This is a work of my own mind, and therefore, all opinions on it are respected but not required. Class names, descriptions, weapon names, armor names, city names, and most of the information used from the Ragnarok Online world is © of Gravity Corp. and Lee Myoungjinj

**Oblivion Chronicles**

_Chapter Two: A Cry Out for Help_

As soon as their drinks were on the table, Alicia waited for the waitress to leave them alone, in the mean time she began to ring out her hair letting the water drip to the floor. When the female was gone, Alicia began, "Okay, I've already explained why there was a sword and shield in their insignia, now the reason for the eagle. It is to represent their speed to get anywhere at anytime, but it also represents the fact that they will protect each other along with any civilians like you and me." Taking a deep breath, she made sure he was paying attention by lifting her eyes up from her drink momentarily then continuing on. "About fifteen years ago, three leaders named Rekzhek, Aliborn, and Dekinmich, had been corrupted by the powers of evil and basically were their pawns. They also had twenty Lord Knights and sixty Paladins under their command that were extremely loyal to them, the rest were killed while they slept, or their food was poisoned. So throughout the five years that this had happened no one dared to advance into the ranks of Lord Knights or Paladins because if they weren't loyal to these three, they would die, and that's not a very good incentive to join their ranks. They had killed nearly twelve thousand people over the course of five years, and these people were all innocent bystanders to the madness that had ensued over these years. They were supposedly being executed because they committed crimes of treason, espionage, and so fourth, basically high crimes against the crown. When the king had finally figured this all out, he had committed himself to finding the culprits of this slaughtering of his people."

She took a deep breath and lifted her head up from staring down at the auburn liquid in her cup to make eye contact with him. "The people who died weren't just peasants, farmers, and the KDR. They had killed priests, children, guardsmen, anyone who tried to stand up to them, and then those that they thought that they didn't deserve living." She ran her fingers on her right hand through her hair, and pushed it back over her shoulder before continuing, "The King had employed an elite group of Assassins to search and detain these criminals. He had practically cleared out the treasury in hopes of catching these people, but there was nothing wrong with it, since all of the towns legislatures and the people of Prontera wanted this to stop. It was in the fourth year that he employed these Assassins, and it only took them a year to track down all of them and kill all those who opposed them, but they didn't kill the three leaders, only because they were ordered not to. Almost half of the group of soldiers they had, died flat out to these specters of the shadow, they never stood a chance. When they had brought the traitors to the King, they were gone as soon as they received their payment and only come out in times of crisis in hopes of making a profit. But that's not important right now." She explained with a huff, and a sip of her beverage. "When they were brought fourth, they were all begging for their lives, so the King stuck them all in the culverts, since that's basically his prison, when the day of execution came around the group was brought fourth to Prontera Square and were executed after saying their last words, which were 'If we had the chance to do this again, we would and we would be better prepared to slaughter millions of people.' One-by-one each got their head's chopped off and their heads were placed on sticks on Mt. Mjolnir.

"As soon as new leadership was placed in control of the KDR, they got about four thousand recruits in the first three months they reestablished the regiment. And this was ten years ago when the group was reestablished, and to this day, they are trying to reclaim their lost honor and name, nowadays they are referred to as the Executioners of Rune-Midgard or just the Executioners, that's why no one sees them anymore. They have fought countless battles that the public doesn't even know of, defending their lives without any gratitude, or compliment. I've worked with these men and women and I hold them all in the highest regards." She took another breath and let it out slowly, waiting for him to reply.

"Now I understand why I only heard one side of the story. Because the people don't know that they are doing these things, and they can't change their opinions of the group. Hmm.." He ended his statement with a silent thought, trying to understand what this evil power was. "Alicia, you said they were corrupted by the powers of evil, did they ever figure out what exactly it was?" When he finished, she shook her head in reply not knowing the answer to it. "What about these Assassins you were telling me about, how exactly did the King get in contact with them?" She ran her finger around the rim of her glass in thought, trying to find a way to explain it to him.

"He sent out messengers to every spot where they could set up camp, and the number of messengers he sent out was unbelievable, it was nearly twenty-five thousand people out there trying to deliver a message. Most died, some are still missing presumed dead, and only a handful returned to the kingdom saying that they couldn't find them. The King was about to send out another group of people when they appeared right in front of him, they just appeared there on a knee bowing to him." She sat silently waiting for him, obviously history wasn't something he was very fluent in, but she would gladly spend enough time with him to explain anything he needed to know, since he helped her in trying to find her brother.

"Well, this is all very interesting, but alas Alicia, I must leave. It was great to spend time with you, and actually know what was the happenings of the KDR. I'll leave you with this though.." He pulled out a roll of parchment from his pouch and dabbed a quill on the bloody blade of his axe, which wasn't making a mess of the floor, it seemed that the blood was just moving around the very tip of the blade. He used it as a red ink, and scrawled out where he lived in the four towns he had homes in. Getting up, he paid for both of their drinks and wished her farewell as he walked out of the building.

Sighing, Alicia stood up once more, grabbing the parchment, and proceeded out of the pub. She saw him take a right around a building and when she got to where he turned he was gone and all that was on the ground was a slight scorch mark left by teleportation. Laughing quietly to herself, she then proceeded through the town square towards the Prontera Church where she might be able to find the Minister, if she couldn't then she would have to go straight to the castle. Still clenching the note in her hand, she stood out in the rain staring up at the beauty of the large church. It's towers glistening in the rain, while it's magnificent glasswork reflected all of the drops of rain as they passed by it, while it's size was larger then most of the churches in the province, it was still beautiful. Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip on the paper and proceeded inwards to a place she was very familiar with.

Upon entering the chapel, it's painted walls and carpeted floors soothed any tension she had accumulated over the last couple of hours, and she didn't know why it always did this to her. Bowing her head as she passed nuns and priests she continued down the hall till two doors on either side were able to be seen, taking the right one she went inside of his office. She tucked the note inside of a small pouch on her side and held her hands together in prayer as she rounded the corner and came up to him, muttering a small prayer before lowering her hands. The Minister was named Revan Stifler, he was in his mid-sixties and looked remarkably young for his age. His brown hair was just beginning to turn gray along the sides and in the back of his head, while his face had yet to gain any wrinkles of old age. He was much taller then her, but he was also husky for his height, she thought he was handsome and that was the last of the thoughts that were in the same category for him.

"Sir, something is amiss in the Morroc Pyramids. I have no idea what it may be, but they have already taken the life of an adventurer, and the Defense Regiment is down there from what I was told. Might I request a few of the priests come with me when I venture back down there in search of the missing adventurer's body if they did indeed kill them." She bowed as she waited for his answer, which took longer then she thought. She could of sworn that he saw her and acknowledge her presence when she approached.

When he finally did reply, it wasn't the answer that she wanted to hear, "Sorry my child, but I cannot grant such a request. If evil is amiss, it is my job to protect this city from the evil that can come forth and try and vanquish it. If you do indeed wish to go back into that place, you'll have to do it without the help of the church." The sound of grievance in his voice was very noticeable, and she knew he figured out who that adventurer was, because she had told him where she would be for the day. "I'm very sorry Alicia, you can see if the Chivalry has any knights in need of a task, but it is highly unlikely." When he dismissed her, she was furious with the church. She stormed out of the room and the church, unraveling the paper that Aerich gave her seeing something odd about it. The location of Comodo was circled, and it said that he would be there most of the time.

Deciding she would check with the Chivalry, and go to the castle after she went to speak with him. Placing the note back in the pouch, she removed a blue gemstone and began to fill it with her power till it glowed brightly. Tossing the gemstone on the ground, she watched it disintegrate and blow away into tiny particles, leaving a blue ring of light going up into the air. Stepping in, she felt it's warmth before being teleported off to the beach town of Comodo. When she appeared on the warm sand, she took the note out and began to study it, trying to figure out where he lived. Unable to understand the area since she has never been here, she walked over to the Kafra dressed in a very skimpy orange-yellow outfit.

"Ma'am, do you by any chance know where Aerich Goehring lives?" Alicia asked, and when she finished speaking the Kafra's face turned a light shade of crimson. She just raised her right hand and pointed at a hut on the far side of the beach secluded by a few trees. Thanking the female, she turned and proceeded towards it, but she didn't get very far when she saw him in a pair of sandals and shorts walking down the beach with a tackle box in hand and a fishing rod. Snickering at the thought of him as a fisherman, she walked over to him since he obviously didn't see her.

When she approached him, she curled her right hand up in front of her mouth to mask any noise that might escape her lips. Continuing to keep the fingers in place, she let them remain till the snickering died down and she was a mere four or five steps. Speeding up her pace, she bounded up next to him and matched his pace, "Hello again Aerich." She spoke quietly to him since it appeared that the inhabitants here were either asleep or away. He looked down to her and smiled, holding up a fish that laid in his tackle box. She looked down at it, and was amazed, the fish itself had scales that glittered in the light of the area; giving it a constantly changing color.

After raising her gaze from the bewildering fish, she met his gaze and looked forward once more trying to remember what she had come to speak with him about. "Up for something to eat Alicia?", He asked her as they strolled down the soft sand of the beach, he then abruptly turned towards a pavilion with a large campfire in the middle of it. There were a few tables spaced out around the fire with a few of the townsfolk embracing each other showing their love for their spouse. The sight of this display of affection made Alicia blush lightly as she was ushered over next to a fire pit and allowed to sit down on a bench by it. When Aerich turned around to stick the fish into the flames, she saw the same scar from earlier in the day and it seemed that it didn't bother him one bit.

"So.. uhh.. why exactly do you have four homes in different cities?" She asked him as she watched the flames dance around the ash ridden logs, bewildered by their movements. She wasn't giving him any attention, but when he didn't answer she removed her gaze from the flames and looked up to see him gone. Worried slightly, she stood up and kept her hands on her lap, looking around only to see him bringing back two glasses and a bottle full of some liquid, feeling embarrassed she sat back down and looked at the flames.

When he sat down next to her, she repeated her question to him again. All that he did was shrug and look over to her, "I guess it's just a way to spend money, I like being able to go to a city and have a house of my own, this way I don't need to use an inn to get some rest, where the other occupants can be loud an obnoxious by not allowing me to fall asleep. Plus the cities that they are all in serve a purpose, such as; Einbroch is where I live to do a little work at the airship factory, helping out when it comes to repair things and the sort, Jawaii is were I go when I need a vacation from everyone and to get some really good fishing in, well here is another vacation spot that I spend a lot of time at, and lastly, Lighthalzen or whatever it's name is, that's where I own a business." After his explanation he shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't know anymore information about himself, then he poured the clear liquid into the two glasses and offered her one, "This is called 'Thunder in Paradise', because of it's taste, since it's really mellow and not overly powerful. I don't know if it's something you might like, but I figured I'd offer some."

Alicia felt out of place, this guy was rich and he didn't seem to care about it in the least. He wasn't flaunting her with his money, and he appeared he would rather be an average citizen then a rich one. "So, what sort of business do you own?" She asked after taking a sip of the clear liquid, the taste making her eyebrows shoot up in appreciation for it's taste. Aerich was quiet for a moment before speaking.

"I run a weapon building company that is stationed out of Light Halzen, but I hardly ever go there, I left it in the hands of a friend. Mainly because that city disgusts me with all the snobbish people, and it wasn't my sort of business. Though, I didn't want to sell it because if I own something, someone else can put it to good use when I don't have an interest in it. At least I'll still own property to pass on to my children. Just like all the stuff I collect when I go out into the world, I just give it away since I don't use it or need it. I may be liked by many, but I really don't mind the fame, I'd prefer to be another person here. Oh well." He shrugged and took a large gulp of the drink, finishing it in one sip. "Twice now, I've seen you and your hair has been a mess, let me go get something that might just help you." He winked to her as he pulled the fish out from the flames and set it on a marble slab to cool as he got up and jogged in the direction of his hut.

Alicia sat there in utter shock not knowing what he meant, though subconscious actions led her to pat down her hair, smoothing it so she didn't look so disorganized. By the time he had returned her hair was back to looking a lot better, although he was holding something behind his back to keep out of her sight and that made her curious. When he sat down next to her on the bench he laid a brown hat in her lap with an insignia on it. It appeared to be of an eagle with both of it's wings spread out and the pointing off to the right.

"Thanks, I think." She shot him a glare from the corner of her eyes, not liking how he made fun of her hair, "What about you, Mr. I-couldn't-care-how-my-hair-looks? Why don't you wear a hat to cover up that mess?" When she finished speaking he started to laugh, confusing her momentarily not understanding what was so funny about her question. When he finished laughing, she had to ask, "What is so funny there buddy?" She raised an eyebrow as she fitted the large hat on her small head.

"Well, for one, I'm not like most of those pretty boy Blacksmiths you see around Prontera and such, I don't care about my hair, I particularly like it." He ran a hand through the mess of his white hair, "And two, I do own a hat that I wear occasionally. Though, I haven't worn it in a good deal of time, oh well." He shrugged again as his shoulders drooped back down to their low, slouching positions. He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, picking up the fish with his bare hands he began to cut the scales off and placing each individual scale in a pile on the ground, the rest went into the fire so none of the birds had a meal. When it was cleaned up, he offered her a piece of the fish, keeping the other piece for himself. "Eat up, this is a good fish that I was lucky enough to catch." He smiled as soon as she took her piece and he began to eat his own. To her amazement, he was a really good cook and this was something she could easily get used too.

"So, Alicia, why did you visit me all of a sudden, I thought you had important business to attend too?" He asked in between mouthfuls of food, peering over to her when he finished up his piece of fish, slowly placing the scales next to him in his hands. It seemed that he was counting how many he had acquired.

"Oh, I almost forgot." She took a breath and placed the almost finished piece of meat in her lap. "I requested to the church for their help to go back down into the Pyramids to look for my brother, and they said they wouldn't help me because their problem was to protect the city if evil was to come. Then the Minister had the nerve to tell me to go ask the Chivalry for help, knowing damn well they won't help me because they always have problems of their own. So here I am, to relax so I can possibly go talk to the King and his council, along with the Chivalry tomorrow." She sneezed slightly, having to readjust the cap afterwards because it slipped down on her face some which made him start laughing.

"Well, relaxation is what this place is good for. C'mon, you can come spend the night at my place, I hope you don't mind that, that is. I can guarantee that I won't do anything." He held up his hand the same way the knights proved their honor to their superiors. She bursted out in laughter at him, and after a few minutes of laughing hysterically she calmed herself down some.

"I guess that is an offer that I can't pass up, I mean, you cook, fish, and probably clean up after yourself. Though it is late and I don't feel like going back to Prontera." She nodded once and stood up, tossing the unfinished piece of fish into the fire. "Lead on, fearless leader." She motioned for him to take point and she'd follow him. He smiled and picked up the rest of the scales and began to walk out of the pavilion and down across the warm beach at a casual pace until they arrived in a grove a trees that surrounded his home from everyone else.

"Welcome to my humble estate." He told her with another one of his large bows, opening the door allowing her to enter the large hut. "You can have the bed in the back room, I'll sleep on the floor in the den area." He told her as he opened the door up to the bedroom allowing her to enter it before closing it behind her, he then walked back into the den and laid down on the floor his eyes closing well before his head touched the rug of the floor. He tried to fall asleep quickly but was awaken by Alicia's touch, lifting his head up to look up at her crouching figure while raising an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Do you have something I can sleep in, this dress wasn't meant to be slept in." She asked quite shyly, he could see her face changing to a dark shade of red. She had the hat he gave her off her head and let her hair down, which enhanced her beauty even more. Aerich nodded slightly as they both stood up. Walking back into the room, he opened a closet and pulled out one of the Blacksmith shirts he never wore and handed it over to her, before leaving the room he ruffled her hair a bit and went back to the floor, kicking his sandals off as soon as he was comfortable again.

Soon, Aerich had drifted off to a heavy slumber, while Alicia remained awake most of the night listening to the waves crash against the shore until she finally drifted off to sleep. When she woke up, she saw through squinted eyes that Aerich was standing in front of the closet, he was almost all the way dressed, he still needed to put his sleeveless shirt on. She tried to stifle a yawn, but her movement had made him look over to her. All he did was smile as he pulled on his shirt, "Didja sleep well?"

Stretching out, she made a noise while nodding her head as she yawned once more fully awakening. "It's too bad that I have to leave to talk to the Chivalry and the King and his council today. I wouldn't mind spending another day here, it seems to be a very comfortable area to live in." Aerich continued to smile as he grabbed his belt and slung it around his waist, clasping it in place, his large axe hanging from the front of it.

"Well, you are free to spend as much time here as you like even if I'm not here." As he finished speaking, he reached into the closet and grabbed something, tossing the small metallic object at her. The object landed in the folds of the blanket, Alicia had to fumble with the blankets to find it. "I must now take my leave, I have business to take care of in the caves north of here. If you get done with whatever you need to do, and come back here before I get back, feel free to make yourself at home. I may be in Lighthalzen as well, I must talk to a certain creator and pick a bone with him." He closed the closet and waved to her as he left the room, walking out of the hut and into the morning air.

As soon as he had left, she quickly threw off the shirt, leaving it on the bed as she pulled on her dress, stockings and shoes. Once she finished getting dressed, she left the hut making sure to lock it with the key he gave her, placing that in her pouch. She then removed a blue gemstone, allowing her essence power to flow into the gem, it slowly starting to glimmer blue. Once it was finished, she threw it on the ground and stepped inside of it. Like a rush of hot air, her body was blown about in place not messing up anything about her appearance. Materializing in front of the Chivalry, she had entered and went to the first Captain she saw.

"Sir, I must request the assistance of any and all knights you have to offer." She said in her kindest tone, although she wasn't in that great of a mood. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, looking down at the large list of members of the Chivalry seeing if any were not busy. Lifting his eyes back to her, she could see that he was going to tell her that there weren't any, and she left without muttering a word, now fuming once more. She then walked down the street towards the gate that lead into the castle. When the two guards saw her approach the didn't mutter a word as they opened up the door to the castle for her. Alicia didn't say anything to them as she proceeded towards the king's throne, regaining her composure as she ascended the staircase to the next floor.

As she approached the large wooden doors something was odd to her, since there were no guards standing watch in front of it. Stopping outside of it, she took a deep breath and opened them and proceeded inside of the doors. What she saw scared her down to her bones, the council was dead, the king was not there and neither were the commanders of the KDR. A million possibilities ran through her head as she saw the bloody bodies of the council members sprawled out in the chairs they sat on, their heads resting on the large oak table. Slowly moving towards them, she peered around the room, stopping dead in her tracks at the sight of something invisible moving behind the table she slapped both of her hands together and yelled out "Ruwach!", as soon as the blue sphere of light, the specter's cloak disappeared and there stood a Stalker with two rogues at his side.

"Who are you!" She yelled at them in a menacing tone, the ruwach disappearing silently as she put her mind on other matters. She demanded that they tell her or she would yell for the guards, then she noticed that the two guards that were suppose to be outside of the doors were off to her right propped up against the wall. The three stood there, with their arms crossed across their chests, none of them muttered a word and that scared her even more. She was outnumbered three to one, and she knew she couldn't win a fight against them.

Finally the stalker spoke, "My name is Leon Willis, and these two are Andre and Marcel, we are the detective service by the order of Rune-Midgard and King Tristan the Third. We got here after this massacre happened, and we were still investigating the scene when you arrived. Then we went back to investigating the area back here. Who are you?" He asked in an emotionless voice, sending shivers down her spine.

"I'm uhh.. a part of the church of Prontera.. err.." She was fumbling with her words, she took another deep breath and exhaled to calm herself down. "My name is Alicia Ironwill and I came here to acquire assistance with a problem that is brewing down in Pyramids, but with the leaders all dead and missing I guess that isn't going to happen." She was getting cocky, and she had to shut up so she didn't piss the three off.

"Understandable, but you have to leave this area. This is a crime scene and you are tampering with all the evidence we have. I'd prefer if you left quickly, watching where you are stepping." He told her as the three started to inspect the bodies, muttering something about all the throats being cut clean through, but that was when she bowed to them, and left the room. Pulling out another blue gemstone, she charged it and tossed it forward. Stepping into the pillar of light, she went back to Comodo.

When she arrived, she saw Aerich in the distance standing on a platform that was raised about sixty to seventy feet up in the air, it was built off the side of a cliff. She walked towards his hut, not wanting to bother her. But when she passed she heard a female voice above her with him, "..going to have to kill him." Stopping in her tracks she looked up towards him and called out his name, watching as he looked over the edge to wave at her.

"Hey there, you'll have to tell me how your day was as soon as I get down there." That was all he said as he turned back towards whoever else was up there. "We can't kill him, I won't let someone die because they are possessed. We have to capture him and turn him into the authorities. They can get a few Sages to help him out, but we first have to get to him." Not understanding what they were talking about, she decided to be nosy and stand where she was at to listen in.

Then another male voice spoke up, "Even if we had an army, we still couldn't kill that army that is amassing, or it's lords to get to him. So capturing him is way out of the question, we have to get an assassin down there to kill him, it's plain and simple Aerich. I won't make you put your hand in this, but it has to happen. Also, why exactly did you go down into that cave today? What were you trying to do?"

"I was trying to see how large the army was, it's currently up to a few thousand foot soldiers, and only two generals, although I did see him. He doesn't look like himself anymore, his hair went from black to a skull white color, while his skin isn't tanned, it's the gray color of corpses. I don't think killing him.."

"We have to do it! He doesn't deserve to live anymore, he must die, and that's the final word of it Aerich. If you want to try and fight that army of sea creatures go right ahead, but you won't get my help, why? Because it's fucking suicide, sui-i-cide. Is this getting through to you? It'll take too long to find people to help, specially since most of the Lord Knights and Paladins are dealing with some problem in the Pyramids." The male said, raising his voice loud enough that the entire village had probably heard.

"Altan, calm down. Josef was Aerich's friend, if I were to become something like that, wouldn't you want me captured instead of being killed?" The female voice spoke up once again, seeming like she was trying to resolve a conflict before it was going to happen.

"Terra.. This isn't about you, it's about Joesef. He's gone mad and we have to stop him before he can unleash that army upon Comodo, and the rest of the region." Altan told the two of them.

"Answer the question or I'm leaving! And I won't stop any fights that'll happen either!" Terra exclaimed towards him, she seemed furious that he was bypassing the question by speaking of the problem at hand. She wasn't going to let that happen, and Altan figured that she was on Aerich's side in this conflict.

Sighing heavily, Altan's voice started again, "Yes honey, I would try to save you rather then send someone in to end your life. I don't know why you had to even ask that question, you already knew my answer before I said it."

"You two, calm down or I'll kick both of your butts. We don't need another problem added to our plate. This one is enough to deal with and we have to find a way to capture him. What about getting a few stalkers in there to capture him? Then we can easily get a few wizards to just Jupitel Thunder the army of sea creatures." Aerich told the two of them.

"Y'know, that _might_ work. The problem now is to find a few stalkers that will do it, and won't kill him Aerich. I know that the Wizard guild would gladly help if I told them that it would risk the peace of this region. Although, I don't know how many wizards they would be able to spare." Terra said to the two. "How about, we get a good night of sleep and meet at the entrance of the cave tomorrow. Altan and myself will stay in the inn tonight, so bright and early tomorrow be at that entrance." She ordered the two of them before foot steps on wood were heard as they walked to the cliff and down the footpath towards the beach.

Alicia decided this was the time to head over to the hut, walking once more she pulled out the key and started thinking about what the three had said, and who exactly Altan and Terra were. Shrugging to herself, she unlocked the wooden door to his house and went inside to wait for him on the foot of the bed. It was late now and her body was sore and she couldn't figure out why. Then she heard footsteps walking into the hut, and saw it was him, a sullen look on his face his eyebrow was ruffled in thought as he walked into the room and hung his axe on a peg on the wall. It was after he placed his belt on the shelf that he noticed her.

"Howdy, so, tell me, what did the Chivalry and the Council say?" He asked her as he removed his vest, taking a blacksmith shirt from the closet, slipping into it. He looked over to her and saw that she was staring off into nothing, and shrugged to himself as he buttoned the shirt up. "Alicia, this is Aerich calling, I'd like to leave a message for you to come back to reality any time now."

When he finished speaking, she blinked a few times and her head shot up to look at him. She put on a toothy smile, and he knew that was a special smile that not many got. He also knew that whatever she was going to say wasn't going to be good, it was like a feeling in the pit of his stomach. "The Chivalry does not have any knights to spare, and the council was murdered. King Tristan, and the two commanders of the KDR are missing." She told him flat out as she watched him roll the sleeves of his shirt up, refraining from zoning out again.

"Well, I didn't expect that to happen.." He was stunned, without the king Rune-Midgard would revert to chaos, and a lot of innocent people will die. After he finished buttoning up the shirt, he began to pace back and forth in front of the bed with his right hand on his chin, while his left supported the elbow. "Someone has to rise up and take the king's place in this soon-to-be crisis. And the military might just have to do it to prevent any uprisings and whatnot." He continued pacing as if an answer will come to him, and he continued pacing for hours on end always offering some sort of answer to the problem then saying something like, "No, that won't work" or "That'll be too hard to do." After a great deal of time, he stopped pacing and looked over to her as she yawned, arching her back forward as she stretched both of her arms above her head. "Alright, I'll let you get some sleep, but I must be off once more, I've got to get some help and quickly." He leaned over and kissed her forehead before rushing out the door and out into the night as he raced across the ground. This left Alicia confused as she tried to think of what he was going to do.

She decided that he had to cry out for help since this situation was deteriorating, and extremely fast at that. Alicia laid back on the bed, sprawling out across it's expanse, closing her eyes to try and get some sleep. Taking a deep breath, she slowly fell into a deep slumber the events that have gone on these last two days going through her head as solutions to their problem kept popping up until she was sound asleep. The two of them, plus many others began to realize this could be the end of Rune-Midgard, or at least the beginning of it.


End file.
